Freedom! - Chris Cornell interview by Eden Munro in Vue Weekly

Chris Cornell has covered a lot of musical ground over the years, sometimes in leaps and bounds and other times in gradual shifts. From the years he spent in Soundgarden to the three albums he recorded with Audioslave, there's been a definable progression in his writing. It's Cornell's solo material, though, that really highlights his desire to try out different approaches, from his first foray with the acoustic "Seasons" from the Singles soundtrack to his first two solo albums, Euphoria Morning and Carry On, there's been an apparent desire to push his limits beyond what he's done in the confines of his previous bands. Still, his upcoming solo album, Scream, is a marked departure from everything that Cornell has done in the past. The new record is a collabortation between Cornell and super-producer Timbaland, and it sounds very little like anything that either of them have created in the past. Vue Weekly spoke with Cornell recently, and this is what he had to say about the new album.

Chris Cornell: The album actually starts with an introduction and then the music never stops. All of the songs have orchestral arrangements that kind of lead you out of the mood of the song that you're in and into the next one, and the music never stops for the hour until the album's finished.

So it started out as songwriting and ended up as kind of tying all of the songs together into almost a movie soundtrack experience, which has been an interesting sort of story to have to come out and try to tell in 2008 and 2009 because people are sort of becoming accustomed to the 20-second iTunes audition and downloading one song at a time -- that's really become sort of the norm for the newest generation of music buyers, music consumers, and I just made this album where you have to sit down and listen to it for an hour. Whatever you do, at least give it that chance one time, and then if you want to buy one song or listen to one song over and over, fine.

It's been interesting, to me -- and maybe it's because I've been in bands for so long and spent so much time in that band scenario -- this is sort of what being a solo artist is all about. I guess I'm trying to cover territory that's interested me for years, and I'm trying to do it quickly because I feel that after being in bands for around 20 years, maybe with a two-year break in there, I'm a little bit behind in terms of my desire to try different approaches to songwriting and making albums.

CC: This was completely different. These were all beat-based and started that way. Every single one, with the exception of I guess two, were beats that Timbaland brought into the studio and he would work on them at home or he would work on them after I would leave at night in the studio -- ;he would just sit with headphones on and work on them and I would come in and start writing to them and recording parts and then we would just move on one at a time.

We didn't have several sitting around -- we would focus on one and when it was finished we would go to the next one and when it was finished we'd go to the next one and we just kept working that way. I had set a couple of weeks aside before we started where I was thinking I would just go and come up with some ideas musically -- maybe a little bit lyrically, but more musically -- so that I would have some ideas to bring into the process.

But somewhwere in those two weeks I changed my mind and I decided that I didn't want to do that, that I wanted to start completely from scratch from song to song and just sort of react to it, because the thing that I've wanted over the years that is a given, is that when you work with a new person creatively when it comes to songwriting, you as a songwriter are going to come up with different melodies and lyrics and attitudes simply because you're reacting to someone else who's creating something that you've never written to before.

And there's usually a spark, it's usually a really exciting thing and an inspiring thing, and that turned out to be the case totally. It's like the first time I got in the room with the three members of Audioslave we wrote a whole album in a couple of weeks -- ;it was really easy because I had all these ideas based on the different sounds that they were bringing because I'd never written to that type of a thing before so it was all fresh and it was all new.

I think great songwriting partners -- for example Lennon and McCartney wrote these amazing songs one after another -- you would think they could do it forever, but I think it becomes difficult. For example, I think for Elton John to sit down with a sheet of Bernie Taupin lyrics and just bang out a song that is as inspired and fresh and amazing as what he would have done 30 years ago or however long it's been, it's probably not going to happen simply because those lyrics are sort of pushing the same button.

So that was kind of the attitude that I went in with: I've never written songs with Timbaland and I've never worked with him in a creative way, so I'm just going to go in with nothing and just react and it turned out to be the best thing to do.

CC: I was first aware of it -- and I'm guessing how long ago -- this was eight years ago maybe, from a Missy Elliott track. There were a couple that I really keyed in on because it was really interesting. There was one particular song that there were birds chirping in it that was part of the beat. I remember feeling a little bit envious as someone in the rock field making albums, where people in hip hop were making sounds and songs out of virtually anything because it wasn't really instrumentation-based anymore, it was found sounds and rhythms that were either looped or created and then looped -- ;basically no rules.

And then as hip hop sort of grew, it grew into also incorporating live musicians and that's when it became interesting because now you could do anything. And with rock it wasn't so much necessarily that way. I remember touring with Faith No More where fans would get mad that they had a piano player and I would think, "But, what about Led Zeppelin and the Doors and what about Who's Next and Pink Floyd?" It made no sense to me.

So I remember then that I didn't know who the producer was, but I found out later that it was Timbaland. That was I think the first time where it sort of crossed my radar and I thought about it and then I heard more and more stories about how he approached recording.

But I think there was also a different dynamic that I knew about going into it, which was that I'm someone who can go in with a clear head and no chip on my shoulder and no baggage because I've written 15 albums, I'm a songwriter, I've written hundreds and hundreds of songs, so I can go in and work with someone like that where it's not the same type of relationship that he might have for example with a pop star, where if he's producing a pop album and you've got this sort of persona you're dealing with that's really more important than what songs you're writing and you just have to make hits. We didn't really have any aspect of that in this process -- for us it was just about making a great album.



	freedom! chris cornell screams again by eden munro, vue weekly, november 2008
	Chris Cornell has covered a lot of musical ground over the years, sometimes in leaps and bounds and other times in gradual shifts. From the years he spent in Soundgarden to the three albums he recorded with Audioslave, there's been a definable progression in his writing. It's Cornell's solo material, though, that really highlights his desire to try out different approaches, from his first foray with the acoustic "Seasons" from the Singles soundtrack to his first two solo albums, Euphoria Morning and Carry On, there's been an apparent desire to push his limits beyond what he's done in the confines of his previous bands. Still, his upcoming solo album, Scream, is a marked departure from everything that Cornell has done in the past. The new record is a collabortation between Cornell and super-producer Timbaland, and it sounds very little like anything that either of them have created in the past. Vue Weekly spoke with Cornell recently, and this is what he had to say about the new album. Vue Weekly: There's been an obvious evolution in the solo material that you've already released, but the sound of Scream is surprising in the extent that it departs from your earlier work. Chris Cornell: The album actually starts with an introduction and then the music never stops. All of the songs have orchestral arrangements that kind of lead you out of the mood of the song that you're in and into the next one, and the music never stops for the hour until the album's finished. So it started out as songwriting and ended up as kind of tying all of the songs together into almost a movie soundtrack experience, which has been an interesting sort of story to have to come out and try to tell in 2008 and 2009 because people are sort of becoming accustomed to the 20-second iTunes audition and downloading one song at a time -- that's really become sort of the norm for the newest generation of music buyers, music consumers, and I just made this album where you have to sit down and listen to it for an hour. Whatever you do, at least give it that chance one time, and then if you want to buy one song or listen to one song over and over, fine. It's been interesting, to me -- and maybe it's because I've been in bands for so long and spent so much time in that band scenario -- this is sort of what being a solo artist is all about. I guess I'm trying to cover territory that's interested me for years, and I'm trying to do it quickly because I feel that after being in bands for around 20 years, maybe with a two-year break in there, I'm a little bit behind in terms of my desire to try different approaches to songwriting and making albums. You only live so long and there's so much to do. I could compare it to being a painter: every day is an opportunity for another painting and if you don't do it that day it's not going to exist. VW: Did these songs start out with you and an acoustic guitar, or did you approach the writing differently? CC: This was completely different. These were all beat-based and started that way. Every single one, with the exception of I guess two, were beats that Timbaland brought into the studio and he would work on them at home or he would work on them after I would leave at night in the studio -- ;he would just sit with headphones on and work on them and I would come in and start writing to them and recording parts and then we would just move on one at a time. We didn't have several sitting around -- we would focus on one and when it was finished we would go to the next one and when it was finished we'd go to the next one and we just kept working that way. I had set a couple of weeks aside before we started where I was thinking I would just go and come up with some ideas musically -- maybe a little bit lyrically, but more musically -- so that I would have some ideas to bring into the process. But somewhwere in those two weeks I changed my mind and I decided that I didn't want to do that, that I wanted to start completely from scratch from song to song and just sort of react to it, because the thing that I've wanted over the years that is a given, is that when you work with a new person creatively when it comes to songwriting, you as a songwriter are going to come up with different melodies and lyrics and attitudes simply because you're reacting to someone else who's creating something that you've never written to before. And there's usually a spark, it's usually a really exciting thing and an inspiring thing, and that turned out to be the case totally. It's like the first time I got in the room with the three members of Audioslave we wrote a whole album in a couple of weeks -- ;it was really easy because I had all these ideas based on the different sounds that they were bringing because I'd never written to that type of a thing before so it was all fresh and it was all new. I think great songwriting partners -- for example Lennon and McCartney wrote these amazing songs one after another -- you would think they could do it forever, but I think it becomes difficult. For example, I think for Elton John to sit down with a sheet of Bernie Taupin lyrics and just bang out a song that is as inspired and fresh and amazing as what he would have done 30 years ago or however long it's been, it's probably not going to happen simply because those lyrics are sort of pushing the same button. So that was kind of the attitude that I went in with: I've never written songs with Timbaland and I've never worked with him in a creative way, so I'm just going to go in with nothing and just react and it turned out to be the best thing to do. VW: When did you become aware of the sort of thing that Timbaland is doing? CC: I was first aware of it -- and I'm guessing how long ago -- this was eight years ago maybe, from a Missy Elliott track. There were a couple that I really keyed in on because it was really interesting. There was one particular song that there were birds chirping in it that was part of the beat. I remember feeling a little bit envious as someone in the rock field making albums, where people in hip hop were making sounds and songs out of virtually anything because it wasn't really instrumentation-based anymore, it was found sounds and rhythms that were either looped or created and then looped -- ;basically no rules. And then as hip hop sort of grew, it grew into also incorporating live musicians and that's when it became interesting because now you could do anything. And with rock it wasn't so much necessarily that way. I remember touring with Faith No More where fans would get mad that they had a piano player and I would think, "But, what about Led Zeppelin and the Doors and what about Who's Next and Pink Floyd?" It made no sense to me. So I remember then that I didn't know who the producer was, but I found out later that it was Timbaland. That was I think the first time where it sort of crossed my radar and I thought about it and then I heard more and more stories about how he approached recording. But I think there was also a different dynamic that I knew about going into it, which was that I'm someone who can go in with a clear head and no chip on my shoulder and no baggage because I've written 15 albums, I'm a songwriter, I've written hundreds and hundreds of songs, so I can go in and work with someone like that where it's not the same type of relationship that he might have for example with a pop star, where if he's producing a pop album and you've got this sort of persona you're dealing with that's really more important than what songs you're writing and you just have to make hits. We didn't really have any aspect of that in this process -- for us it was just about making a great album. Reprinted from Vue Weekly- originally available as an online feature here
	Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2008